What happens when generations of people from Kolkata, who celebrate the city’s birthday on August 24, get to know that the tradition was nothing but an urban legend? Generations of people from Kolkata have been celebrating August 24 as Kolkata Day to commemorate the day Job Charnock — the British East India Company’s chief agent in Bengal — set foot on the land. In June 2022, the Kolkata Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) made significant discoveries. Excavations near Robert Clive’s House in Dum Dum uncovered evidence of human settlements in Kolkata dating back nearly 2,000 years. This…
Author: Madhupriya Sengupta
From nurturing sisterhood to providing support networks, women-led Facebook groups in Kolkata have redefined empowerment in real life through virtual bonds. The pandemic has created many new trends, such as virtual work, the e-commerce boom, the rise in virtual communication, awareness about mental health, and more. Virtual communication is one key area where Facebook communities have become a sanctuary for women’s solidarity. These interest-based, women-led communities have emerged as platforms for self-expression and mutual support. In Kolkata, many big, medium, and small communities, like The Earthy Ways, Womanhood, Sahochori, Women Untamed, Belly Tales, and others, have proved safe and open…
As 24-year-old Mani bends to turn a page while teaching the children at the Children’s Smart Centre (CSC) of Childlife Preserve Shishur Sevay in the Behala area of Kolkata, memories of her own upbringing at the NGO’s orphanage flash by her. Mani is among five other women working at the NGO who were also brought up at Shishur Sevay and are now working voluntarily to pay back. Childlife Preserve Shishur Sevay NGO, founded by Dr. Michelle Harrison in Behala, Kolkata, has been running a free community preschool since 2022 for underprivileged and specially abled children. They provide high-quality Early Childhood…
As the seasons turn a new leaf, India witnesses an array of colourful festivities named Durga Puja, Navratri and other such festivals. The Voices team of students, which runs across the length and breadth of the country, peeps into the colourful world from the north of India to the south, traversing its way from east to west. Eat, Pray and Love – add music and dance with fasting options to it, and that’s the Indian festival of Navratri. The Shardiya Navratri festival, celebrated from September to October, is a prime instance of unity and diversity India cherishes. Even as the…